Method and apparatus for making pile fabrics



Jan- 6, 1 53 F. P. GROAT 2,624,390

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 50, 1950 5Sheets-Sheet 1 si Q 3 3 INVENTOR. 5 fl' anga's 1? Great i 53 -F. P.GROAT 2,624,390

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILE FABRICS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.50, 1950 m M H u m w w W @p w w w uw INVENTOR. F7-angas 1? Great BY ZfiTTORNEY.

Jan. 6, 1953 F. P. GRoAT v 2,624,390

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 50, 1950 3Sheetg-Sheet 3 'lllllllllllflllllllllill INV ri-an zjs EGroa PatentedJan. 6, 1953 mast IVIETHQD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PILE FABRICS FrancisP. Groat, Bloomsburg, Pa, assignor to The Magee Carpet Company,Eloomsburg, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application .l'anuary 30,1950, Serial No. 141.292

22 Glairns. 1

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making pile fabricsand is particularly adapted for use in making carpets and rugs.

i-ieretoiore, machines have been devised for making carpets and rugsbydepressing portions of pile warps between spaced members to form loopsand then securing the loops thus formed to a backing by an adhesive orcement coating, the loops being cut to produce pile tufts.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a methodand apparatus for efficiently and economically producing tuft pilefabrics by extending a series of pile warps over a series of U-shapewires, depressing the portions of the pile warps between, the wires toembed them in the adhesive coating of a fabric backins materialextending beneath the wires and then moving cutters longitudinally ofthe U-shape wires to cut the portions of the pile warps stretched overthe wires.

A further object of the invention resides in a method which comprisesdrawing a plurality of pile yarns over a series of spaced U-shapemembers disposed above an adhesive coated backing material, successivelydepressing portions of the pile yarns between the U-shape members toembed them in the adhesive coating of the. backing material and thencutting the portions of the pile yarns stretchedacross the U-shapemembers while the depressed portions of the pile yarns are held embeddedin the coating of the back- A further object of the invention resides inproviding apparatus for carrying out the method which includes a tablesupporting the adhesive coated backing material, a grid of spaced Ushape members disposed above the table-for supporting a series of pileyarns, the table and grid being mounted for vertical movement towardsand from each other, a series of blades mounted above the grid andindependently movable between the U-shape members for depressingportions of the pile yarns into the adhesive coating of the backing,mechanism for successively depressing the blades and cutters movablelongitudinally in the channel of the U-shape members for cutting theportions of the pile yarns stretched across the U-shape members.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part or" this specification andin which; like numerals are employed. to designate like: partsthroughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing generally the position of thebacking material and pile yarns at the start of the process,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the manner of depressingportions of the pile yarns into contact with the backing,

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the pile yarns in position forcutting the portions stretched over the U-sha-pe members,

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line l-d of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the out pile yarns,

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the position of the blades, pilewires and table after the pile yarns have been secured to the backingand out to form tufts,

Fig. 7 is alongitudinal sectional View through one of the pile wireswith the cutter in cutting position,

Fig. 8 is an end elevation view of the blade depressing mechanism,

Fig. 9 is a front elevation view of the blade depressing mechanism,

Fig. 10 is a front elevation view of the apparatus showing the mechanismfor elevating and lowering the grid and table, and,

Fig. 11 is an end view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration apreferred embodiment of. the invention is shown, the numeral 5 denotes aroll of backing material which is trained around rolls ii and I, over anadhesive applying roll 8 mounted in a container 9 holding a supply ofrubber latex or other suitable adhesive. After the adhesive coating isapplied to the backing material, the material is trained around a rollIii and extends horizontally across a plate or table II which is mountedfor vertical movement. A series of U-shape pile wires [2 are disposedabove table being mounted in a vertical movable frame i3. A series ofpile warps or yarns l i, wound on abeam [5, are drawn across the. seriesof pile wires l2 and. above the yarns at points intermediate the wires.are mounted a series of independently movable blades It. Table ll withthe backing material thereon and the pile wires l2 are moved towardseach other to bring the wires into closev proximity to the. coating on.the backing material. Ifhe. blades It, arethen successively lowered, asshown in Fig. 2, which depresses portions of the pile yarns hi betweenthe pile wires l2 so they are embedded in the adhesive coating of thebacking. After the series of blades have been lowered, as shown in Fig.3 a

clamp I1 is applied to the series of yarns at the forward end of thetable to hold them in position while the yarns stretched across the pilewires are cut by cutters H3 movable longitudinally of the U-shape wires.When the yarns have been cut the blades [6 are raised upwardly, as shownin Fig. 5 and then the frame l3, supporting the wires, and table I l aremoved apart, as shown in Fig. 6, so that the backing material and tuftsl9 formed by cutting the yarns is free to be moved forward and bring thenext section of the backing material beneath the wires.

The mechanism for successively depressing the blades I6 is shown inFigs. 8 and 9 and includes a pair of parallel shafts 2i) and 2! mountedin vertical spaced relation on frame l3 above blades 16. The drive shafthas a gear Wheel 22 at one end in mesh with a gear wheel 23 on the endof shaft 2|. Gear 23 is releasably connected to shaft 2! by a clutch pin24 carried by a collar 25 fixed on the shaft 2|. Movable along theshafts 20 and 2| is a cam housing 26 having parallel walls 21 connectedin spaced relation by plates 28. The shafts extend through openings 29and 39 in the walls 21, and the opening 351 has threaded engagement withthe screw thread 3| of shaft 2i! whereby rotation of the shaft 20 movesthe cam housing longitudinally along the shafts. A gear Wheel 32disposed between the walls 2? is keyed on the shaft 2| in the keyway 33,and this gear is in mesh with gear wheel 34 loosely journaled on shaft20 and attached to the face of gear 34 is an eccentrically mounted cam35 which upon rotation of gear 34 engages the upper edge of a blade l6and depresses the same. Rotation of drive shaft 20 moves the cam housing26 longitudinally of the shafts 20 and 2| thus bringing the cam 35 intosuccessive engagement with each of the blades it which are depressed byaction of the cam. The blades l6 are normally held in raised position bycoil springs 36 at each end thereof and to hold the blades in depressedposition spring fingers 31 are provided for engagement with the upperedges of the blades. lhe fingers 31 depend from a rotatable bar 38mounted on the front and rear of frame 13 and at each end of the bar arelaterally extending arms 39 having weights 40 suspended therefrom. Underaction of the weights the fingers are held against the ends of blades l6and spring into engagement with the upper edge when the blades aredepressed. After all the blades are depressed, the rotation of shaft 20is reversed to return the cam housing 26 to its starting position. Torelease the blades, the fingers 3'! are swung from engagement with theblades by rotating the bar 38, allowing springs 36 to raise the blades.

The yarn cutting mechanism is shown in Figs. 4 and 7 and includes aseries of cables 41 attached at opposite ends to drums 42 and 43 mountedto the front and rear of the machine. There is one cable for each of theU-shape wires H which extend longitudinally of the wires in the channelthereof. Attached to each cable is a cutting blade l8 having an inclinedcutting edge 65 adapted to engage and sever the yarns stretched acrossthe wires [2 when the cutting blades are moved longitudinally of wires!2 by winding the cables 4| on drum 43. After severing all the yarnsstretched across the wires 12, the cutting blades are returned to astarting position by winding the cables 4! on drum 42 which may beactuated by a weight 46 suspended by a cable at from pulley 48 attachedto drum 42.

frame l3 and table I l is shown in Figs. 10 and 11 and includes pairs ofcam wheels 49 eccentrically mounted on shafts 50 beneath each end of theframe 13. Similar cam wheels 5i are mounted on shafts 52 beneath theends of table H and by suitable chain gearing 53 between the shafts EUand 52 and the shafts at opposite ends of the machine, the cam wheels 45are operated to lower frame I3 while cam wheels 5% are raising table I Iand vice versa.

From the foregoing it will be seen that with the backing material 5extending across the table II and the pile yarns l4 extending across thewires [2, as shown in Fig. 1, the wires and table are moved verticallytowards each other until the wires are in close proximity to the coatingof the backing material, as shown in Fig. 2. With the wires and table inthe position shown in Fig. 2, the blade depressing mechanism comes intooperation and causes the blades It to be successively depressed. As theblades move downwardly between the wires, portions of the yarns M aredepressed and embedded in the adhesive coating of the backing material.After all the blades have been depressed, as shown in Fig. 3, the clampI1 is applied to the yarns prior to the cutting operation. The blades itare held in their depressed position by the spring fingers 37 during thecutting of the yarns. As the cables 41 are wound on the drum 43 thecutters l8 move longitudinally of the channels of wires f2 and thecutting edges 45 sever the portions of the yarns bridging the channel ofthe wires, as shown in Fig. 5. After the cutting operation the blades l6are released and the wires and table are moved apart, as shown in Fig.6, thus completing the formation of the pile tufts 19 which are securedto the backing by the adhesive coating; The

fabric is then moved forward to bring the next all The mechanism forraising and lowering the section of the backing beneath the wires andthe yarns [4 held by the clamp I! are pulled across the wires and theprocess is repeated to complete the next tufted section of the fabric.

It is to be understood suitable mechanism may be provided for drivingthe blade depressing mechanism, cutters and the raising and loweringmechanism for the grid and table to carry out the steps of the processin proper sequence.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backingmaterial with adhesive, progressively depressing portions of pile yarnsover loop forming wires and embedding the depressed portions in thecoating of the backing material and cutting the portions of the pileyarns stretched over the loop forming wires while retaining thedepressed portions of the yarns embedded in the coating.

2. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backingmaterial with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns longitudinallyof and above the backing material, progressively depressing portions ofsaid yarns in spaced relation and embedding the depressed portions inthe coating of the backing material and cutting the portions of the pileyarns between the depressed portions while holding thedepressed portionsembedded in the coating.

3. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backingmaterial with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns longitudinallyof and above the backing material, progressively depressing portions ofsaid yarns at spaced intervals into contact with the coating of thebacking 4. Apparatus for the production of: pile fabrics comprising agrid element having a series of spaced U-shape wires for supporting aseries of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneathsaid grid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarnsbetween the wires of the grid into contact with the adhesive backing,and means for cutting the portions of the pileyarns stretched over theU- shape wires.

5. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridelement having a series of spaced U -shape wires for supporting a seriesof pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath saidgrid, means progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns betweenthe wires of said grid into contact with the adhesive backing and meansfor cutting the portions of the pile yarns stretched over the wires.

6. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridelement having a series of spaced U-shaped wires for supporting a seriesof pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath saidgrid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarnsbetween the wires of said grid into contact with the adhesive backingand stretching the intermediate portions of the yarns over the wires,and means movable longitudinally of the wires for cutting theintermediate portions of the pile yarns.

7. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridelement having a series of spaced U-shape wires for supporting a seriesof pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath saidgrid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarnsbetween the wires of said grid into contact with the adhesive backingand cutters movable in th channel of the U-sh-ape wires for cuttingtheportions of the pile yarns extending over the wires.

8. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridelement having a series of spaced U-shape wires for supporting a seriesof pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath saidgrid, blades mounted above said grid movable to progressively depressportions of the pile yarns between the wires into contact with theadhesive backing, means for holding said blades depressed, and means forcutting the portions of the pile yarns extending over the Wires.

9. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridelement having a series of spaced U-sha'pe Wires for supporting a seriesof pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath saidgrid, a series of blades above said grid for depressing portions of thepile yarns between said wires into contact with said adhesive backing,means for progressively depressing said blades, and means for cuttingthe portions of pile yarns extending over the wires of the grid.

10. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridelement having a series of spaced U-sha'pe wires for supporting a seriesof pile yarn-s, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath saidgrid, a series of blades above said grid for depressing portions of thepile yarns between said wires into contact with said adhesive backing,means for progressively depressing said blades, means releasably holdingsaid blades deposition to form loops and cut pressed dmee q c i ns. th otisn Qi h p e ams rten i g aver ther s fsa s ide 11. Apparatus for theproduction ofpile fabrics comprising a gridhavi-ng -a seriesof spaced U-shape wires for supporting aseries of pile; yarns, means for supportingan; adhesive backing ben ath said grid, a series of'blades above saidgrid for depressing portions of the pileyarns between said wires intocontact with said adhesive backing, means for progressively depressingsaid blades, and cutters movable longitudinally in the U-sh-ape wiresfor; cutting the portions of the pile yarns extending over the wires 12.Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridhavingaseries of spaced; U-

shape wires forsupp o-rting ascriesof pile yarns,

backing to form loop portions over the wires,and

means for cutting the loop portions while on the wires.

14. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridhaving a series of U-sh-ape wires for supporting a series of pile yarns,a table beneath said grid for supporting an adhesive backing, means formoving said grid and table to and from each other, a series of bladesabove said grid intermediate the wires, means for progressivelydepressing said blades to depress portions of the pile yarns intocontact with adhesive backing, releasable means for holding said bladesdepressed, cutters movable longitudinally in the: U-shape wires, andmeans for moving said outters to cut the portions of the pile yarnsextending over the wires.

15. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backingmaterial with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns above andlongitudinally of the coated backing, progressively depressing portionsof the pile yarns over loop forming wires and embedding the depressedportions in the coating of the backing, and moving cutterslongitudinally of the loop forming wires to sever the loops of the pileyarns formed thereon.

16. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backingmaterial with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns above andlongitudinally of the coated backing, progressively depressing portionsof the pile yarns and embedding the depressed portions in the coating ofthe backing, supporting the portions of the pile yarns intermediate thedepressed portions in a raised horizontal plane and severing the raisedportions of the pile yarns.

17. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising extending a seriesof pile yarns above an adhesively coated backing material, progressivelydepressing portions of the pile yarns in spaced relation into adheringcontact with the adhesive coating of the backing material, supportingthe portions of the pile yarns intermediate the depressed portions in ataut horizontal plane, and

severing the supported portions of the pile yarns.

18. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising extending a seriesof pile yarns above an adhesively coated backing material, progressivelydepressing portions of the pile yarns at spaced intervals into adheringcontact with the adhesive coating of the backing material whilemaintaining the intermediate portions in a raised horizontal plane andthen severing the intermediate portions.

19. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridhaving a serie of spaced loop forming members for supporting a series ofpile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid,means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns betweenthe loop forming members into adhering contact with the adhesive backingand stretching the intermediate portions of the pile yarns in spanningrelation to the loop forming members beneath the same, and means forcutting the intermediate portions of the pile yarns.

20. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a supportfor an adhesive backing, a series of spaced loop forming wires abovesaid support for supporting a series of pile yarns, means forprogressively depressing portions of the pile yarns into adheringcontact with the adhesive backing and stretching the intermediateportions of the pile yarns in spanning relation to the loop formingwires supporting the same, and means for cutting the stretched portionsof the pile yarns.

21. Apparatus for the production of pile fab rics comprising a supportfor an adhesive backing, spaced members for supporting a series of pileyarns above the adhesive backing in a horizontal plane, means forprogressively depressing portions of the pile yarns into contact withthe adhesive backing with the portions of the pile yarns between thedepressed portions being stretched across the supporting members, andmeans for cutting the stretched portions of the pile yarns.

22. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a supportfor an adhesive backing, spaced members for supporting a series of pileyarns above the adhesive backing, means for progressively depressingportions of the pile yarns into contact with the adhesive backing andstretching the'intermediate portions of the yarns in spanning relationto the members supporting the same and cutters movable longitudinally ofsaid supporting members for severing the intermediate portions of theyarns.

FRANCIS P. GROAT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 54,870 Crossley May 22, 18661,822,510 Smith Sept. 8, 1931 1,863,912 Robertson et al. June 21, 1932

